Shruti Kotwal to represent India in ice speed skating events in US

New Delhi, July 13 (IANS) Indian ice speed skater Shruti Kotwal, who recently reached the United States for her training, will represent the country in the upcoming international ice speed skating competitions there.

Shruti, one of country's fastest female ice speed skaters, is gearing up to wave the Indian tricolour at the Dessert Classic (September 3-4) and America Cup (October 20-23) in the US.

"I am extremely thrilled to be representing India at an international level and looking forward to performing to my best. As soon as the winter begins, there is a slate of competitions that are lined up in the future as well," Kotwal said in a media release.

"After taking a short break and spending time with my family in India, I feel motivated and I am confident of making the Indian ice speed skaters proud this season," she added.

The 30-year-old feels ice speed skating is slowly gaining popularity in India and has a bright future.

"Ice speed skating is slowly gaining popularity in India and I see more and more young kids getting into this beautiful sport. In colder countries, ice speed skating is widely popular among the youth. I foresee a very bright future for India in ice speed skating and we can give many more speed skaters to the world, if we are able to get the right kind of support and infrastructure required to compete," she said.

Starting her career at a young age of seven on roller skates, Shruti has been a holder of multiple national records in the country and bagged medals at the recently concluded AmCup Champions Challenge and US Open Masters Championship 2022.

She spends most of the months practicing out of the country to access world-class training facilities required to achieve optimal performance in international competitions.